Google Pays $17 Million In Privacy Settlement

(The Hosting News) – On Monday, Google agreed to pay $17 million in settlement charges in its role in secretly tracking user’s activities online. The fines are to be dispersed among 37 U.S. states.

Bloomberg reported that the New York attorney general’s office announced that Google had overrode the default settings in Apple’s Safari browser by allowing cookies to be accessed by users through a DoubleClick advertising platform.

The company had “misled” Safari users by implying they did not need to install a plugin to block cookies.

“Consumers should be able to know whether there are other eyes surfing the web with them. By tracking millions of people without their knowledge, Google violated not only their privacy, but also their trust,” stated New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman.

In February 2012, the company’s unknown tracking was found and reported to the media. Since then, Google has agreed to no longer spy on users unless it’s “necessary to address fraud, security or technical issues and improving the information it provides to consumers about its use of cookies”, according to Bloomberg’s report.

Last year, the FTC brought Google to court over charges that they company bypassed privacy settings in Safari browsers. Google paid $22.5 million in fines in this settlement.

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